The Confession
by kyuubi-nii-chan
Summary: Naruto picked it up and couldn't help but read: I am the girl of your dreams masquerading as your best friend... "H-how could i not have noticed. She has always been in love with... *gulps* with..." Really interesting story. Just read.
1. Chapter 1

It was a beautiful dawn in the konoha village. The threats to public safety in the form of the akatsuki was over. In fact, it was over a year ago pain was defeated, six months when the uchiha's were defeated and four months from the time uzumaki naruto woke up from his two month old coma. A very lazy yawn was heard from the nara family house seconds before an alarm clock went off.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGG

"_I actually went out of my way to set the alarm last night, and I woke up before it went off. I don't even feel like getting up to turn it off. But I can't deal with this stupid ringing forever. *sighs* thinking about all of this is so troublesome."_ Thought shikamaru as he was sitting on his bed and staring into space.

Elsewhere, the other citizens were just awaking to the dawn of a new day and so was uzumaki naruto. He woke up the same way he had for the past four months. Feeling happy that he hadn't been killed in the fight against madara and sasuke six months ago but sad he was not able to keep the promise he made to himself. The promise to bring sasuke back.

He headed to clean himself up. He looked straight in the mirror and flashes of the battle flooded his senses. They had gotten information about the whereabouts of the uchiha's and tsunade had ordered the ambush and their possible annihilation sending the same teams as during the reconnaissance mission. Things hadn't gone has planned and they were separated with naruto, sakura, hinata and kiba against sasuke and the captains with both sai and shino fighting it out with madara. Due to sakura's gullibility, she had gotten herself in a terrible position. And just as sasuke was about to land the killer blow, naruto jumped in and shielded sakura with his own body. Bleeding profusely, naruto turned to face sasuke and with some unexplainable combination with hinata, defeated him.

Before plummeting into the unfamiliar realm of total unconsciousness, naruto watched as a previously casted aside kiba and a tear faced hinata rushed to his side to help him with sakura over at sasuke. He took one last glance at hinata and his final thoughts were _"when did she get so good?"_

After waking up four months ago he and hinata had become really good friends. He now considered her one of his best friends. _"speaking of hinata"_ naruto thought as he got out of the shower and into his clothes _"it is almost time for our spar." _Naruto had begun sparing with hinata as a way of saying thank you to her for helping him out during the battle with sasuke.

Naruto headed straight to the ramen shop in his usual bright self forgetting he was ever sad that morning. Filled, he headed for the training field.

He arrived at the fields and wasn't surprised to see hinata. _"she is always early"_ he thought to himself.

"Oi hinata" naruto greeted in his usual way.

Hinata gasped. "o-ohayo n-naruto-kun" she stuttered without facing him.

It looked like she was about to hide something when he came and just as he was about to look over her, she turned and faced him.

"N-naruto-kun. I am sorry" she started while blushing slightly.

"About what?" naruto asked.

"I h-have to go. T-tsunade-sama just handed ino, sakura and I a mission and we are to leave immediately" hinata answered.

"Oh. And how long is this mission going to take?"

"About a week" hinata answered.

"What! But I would have died of boredom by then" naruto said disappointment evident in his voice.

Hinata giggled at his childish antics and assured him one week wasn't a long time.

As she left, naruto began to wonder. There was this feeling he got whenever he was around her that he couldn't explain.

He looked up at the clouds, sighed then lay down on the floor. "now what am I going to do?" he asked himself. Then his eyes spotted something, a paper. "what's this? hinata must have dropped it while she was rushing off" he said to himself. He picked up the paper and couldn't help but read:

* * *

I want to let you in on a secret

I'm not who you think I am

In fact, my disguise is so thin I'm surprised you haven't seen right through me.

I'm the girl of your dreams masquerading as your best friend

Sometimes I want to rip of this façade like I did during the invasion of pain

But I can't because you'll get confused and run away from our already perfect friendship

So I decided that it's better to live with the lie than expose my true feelings.

A friend of mine once told me there were two types of girls

The one's you grow out of and the one's you grow into

I really hope I'm the latter.

I may not be the one you love today

But I'll let you go for now hoping one day you'll fly back to me

Because I think you're worth the wait.

* * *

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "I d-don't understand. H-how could I not have noticed. And I have been her friend for so long. She has always been in love with…*gulps* with… someone" naruto said in disbelief.

He looked at the paper and read the part of _my disguise is so thin I'm surprised you haven't seen through me _and thought to himself _"who would be so stupid to not notice a girl like hinata likes him. But there is nothing to worry about. I will find him, beat some sense into him and make sure everyother person gets a swing at him also."_ And with that, he was off to find possible clues to the boy hinata likes. He said to himself "but I only have a week before hinata gets back so I have to hurry. First off is neji."

* * *

Authors note: Not done with it yet. In fact, this is where the story begins. So I guess it's a to be continued story. Next chapter coming up very soon. In this story, naruto does not remember hinata confess to him during his battle with pain and let's just say kabuto died somewhere along the line.

"Oi" used by naruto in the story means hey and "Ohayo" used by hinata means good morning.

I just love to reiterate the fact about shikamaru's laziness. So that's why he is in this chapter.

I don't own naruto but, reviews will be good.

Special thanks to minzunogirl and k. 999999999 for adding the other story to their favorites' list.


	2. Revealed Memories

Wow twenty six alerts in total including reviews. Thanks I really appreciated it.

I'm introducing kyuubi into this chapter. He is the one with bold letters when he speaks.

And without further ado, chapter two.

* * *

Naruto wandered the streets of konoha wondering how he could have missed the fact that one of his best friends was in love with someone and was also feeling a bit raged that the said someone wasn't returning her feelings. He had promised himself he was going to find out who he was the day he found the note which was five days ago but so far, there hadn't been much luck. He had gone over to the hyuuga mansion in search of her cousin neji and shuddered as the memories of his unwelcomed visit overwhelmed him.

"_Hey tell me!" _naruto screamed.

Eyes twitching, the hyuuga guard shouted in reply _"you brat. I already told you. He Is currently out on a mission."_

Obviously, naruto had been pestering the hyuuga guard about neji's whereabouts even when he had gotten his answer. Putting his hand to his chin, he looked up and continued….

"_Hmm…. I don't believe you"_ naruto alleged.

"_Then don't. Besides, I don't like you"_ the guard replied with slightly closed eyes focused on naruto.

"_I don't like you either"_ whispered naruto mimicking the way the guard had looked at him.

"Naniiii….."

Naruto stopped recollecting as the end result of his statement ensured he spent the rest of the day hiding out in his apartment. "damn hyuuga guard " said naruto as he massaged the wounds inflicted on him by the hyuuga guard.

He found his way home and began pondering. "This is tough. Who could she be so much in love with?" he asked himself. He picked up the note and reread it. "_maybe it's gaara. No it can't be. He wasn't even aware of pain's invasion. Then lee. No again. I heard he was out on a mission with his teammates and sensei. So it has got to be…." _

"**Are you ever going to grow out of your cluelessness?"** asked kyuubi interrupting naruto from his thoughts.

"You again! What do you want?" replied naruto trying to be on a defensive side.

The kyuubi did his evil chuckle and answered **"I am only trying to help you as your disregard to take care of yourself over an issue of such insignificant importance is putting my own life in danger."**

"W-what did you say?" asked naruto scratching his cheek as he usually does when he fails to figure out what he is being told.

Kyuubi sighed then answered in a more relaxed tone. **"The girl. I want to help with the girl problem so that you can take care of yourself and indirectly preserve my life."**

"And how are you going to do that? You do not even know anything about her" replied naruto.

"**I am stuck in you. your thoughts and feelings are all loud and clear in here"** yelled kyuubi.

"Oh… I get it now. You don't have to yell. So, what have you got for me?" asked naruto.

Kyuubi sighed again then answered **"I've just got one question for you. who is the most clueless person you have ever known?"** asked kyuubi stressing on the clueless and you.

Hearing this, naruto began to ponder. And after a few minutes "I've got it. It's sai. That bastard is not returning her feelings on purpose" yelled naruto as he picked himself up from the floor of his apartment and began heading out in search of sai.

Sighing in defeat of trying to make naruto understand, the kyuubi yelled **"Wait boy."**

"What is the problem now? I've got somewhere to go."

"**I just thought you should have this. They're yours" **answered kyuubi.

"What is mi….." but naruto was interrupted from his speech by memories. Memories of events he had no memory of ever occurring to him. They were flashes but he could make out a scene where he was pinned down and watching hinata in a battle ready stance against pain. He relaxed, got back on his bed and stuttering, he asked "w-what is t-this?"

Realizing his host was getting disoriented, the kyuubi began to explain. **"When you get pushed over the edge by anger, that gives me little control over your body. And as you know, when you get angry and use my power to the extent of releasing four tails, you surrender your whole body and I take over completely. In this state, the memories between the period of using my powers and the whole battle I fought becomes mine. That's why you never remember the incident before using my powers. The one I just released to you is what transpired during the battle with pain.**

Naruto replayed the memories and he remembered it all. The way he was pinned, hinata's surprise entry and her confession. He replayed her confession over and over again and was almost on the verge of tears as just like a tidal wave, new memories were deposited. He clearly remembered how he felt when it looked to him like hinata was killed. He was so willing at the time to submit to the power of the nine tails just to kill him for what he had just done.

Dipping his hand into his pocket, he read the note again and realized his stupidity. The note was for him. He was the stupid one. He was the one who didn't see through her disguise. He had always asked her if she was sick whenever he spotted a red color on her cheeks, but all this while she was only being shy because of her feelings. _"B-but do I lov… feel the same way?"_ he asked himself.

"**Yes you do"** answered kyuubi.

"What! I didn't ask you. how did you know?" asked naruto.

"**I already explained. Your thoughts are loud and because of my developed mind your feelings are clear and you do feel the same way about her"** answered kyuubi.

"Oh. But still, we have to talk about the invasion of my private thoughts. You are not allowed to listen anymore" replied naruto.

The day had ended and naruto had found out hinata's mysterious crush was him. He was so excited he couldn't sleep. He was desperately coming up with plans on what to do when hinata returned in two day's time.

Five days later

It was late in the afternoon and naruto was seen speeding past trees and bursting through the gates of konoha. He just completed an a-rank mission on his own and was eager to see hinata. The day before he was expecting hinata, tsunade had ordered him to go on the mission. He ran through konoha to the hokage tower where he stopped to give his report. He gave his report and as he was about to leave an anbu entered.

"Hokage-sama. Hyuuga Hinata and Haruno Sakura are still missing" said the anbu.

Naruto stopped in his tracks on hearing it. He faced tsunade and asked "Baachan. What did he mean by missing?"

"Well, Yamanaka ino returned two days ago all battered and told us about an ambush on their way back. She didn't see the attackers but reported that hyuuga hinata helped her escape. Search parties have been sent out without any luck. We are afraid they might be….."

"No don't say it" naruto yelled and with that, he left the tower. Tsunade ordered his chase but he was already gone.

"Why. Why is it that the people closest to me keep dying. First it was ero-sennin, then sasuke and now….." naruto trailed off as he sobbed much like the way he did when gaara died. He began to remember all his times with hinata_. "at the chuunin exams, neji almost killed her. During the bikochu mission she was kidnapped and during pain's invasion, she almost died. I have never been there for her"_ naruto thought as he continued sobbing.

Naruto felt the urge and succumbed to it. Using the kyuubi's power at two tails, he brought down half the trees in the training field before finally calming down.

Still sobbing, he sat at the base of an untouched tree and remembered something. _"during the bikochu mission, she freed herself and still came to our rescue, was able to get a hit on pain when she wanted to help me and helped me defeat sasuke." _He wiped his tears and told himself "hinata is strong. She never gave up on me and I won't give up on her. The bastards that did this are in a lot of trouble" he said yelling the last part.

He brought out her note, put it closer to his chest, looked as the sun set and then requested "Kyuubi, I need your help."

* * *

Author's note: To be continued yet again. I am about to write my first fighting scene so the next chapter….. well, I'll try my best. So, does anyone have fighting scene tips.

Hinata's confession here was borrowed from the series smallville.

Again, thanks for the reviews. But I would also appreciate reviews on this chapter also.

Till next time…. Ja ne.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto.

* * *

Naruto was seen the next morning speedily making his way through konoha to the hokage tower with heavy laden eyes that also beamed with sadness. Unlike his usual self, He formulated a plan because he wasn't prepared to take any chances.

"Sakura chan…. hinata…." He said to himself before picking up his speed. He had lost a few of his friends and there was no way he was going to lose more. He barged into tsunade's office "tsunade no baachan where were they ambushed?" he asked.

Tsunade replied by just staring at him. Naruto stared back and tsunade sighed. The gaze in his eyes was the gaze of " _I am definitely going to do it whether you like it or not." _She sighed again. "naruto" she started "right now, you know the relationship between the fire country and the earth country is slightly off balance. The situation is so bad we are expecting war between the two countries. We suspect they might be involved with both sakura and hinata being missing. So, we've sent out our best reconnaissance anbu squad to scout and search for them. They will be found, so do not be troubled."

"But baachan, it's been four days!" naruto yelled.

"Yes I know but….."

"But nothing!" naruto yelled interrupting her. "I have to find them."

Tsunade sighed again then started "in the event of an unforeseen attack on the village, the higher ups have imposed a seal surrounding the village. Nobody gets out or comes in without permission until information from the reconnaissance squad gets to us and they definitely are not going to make you an exemption."

Naruto sighed in defeat and slowly said to himself "the earth country."

Tsunade noticed his change in mood and trying to make him feel better said "They will be found. The boundary of the fire and earth country isn't far from here news will reach us soon."

Naruto swiftly looked up and said to himself "The border! That's where I can begin my search."

"Nobody comes in or goes o…."

"Tsunade no baachan I have to go" naruto said interrupting her.

And with that, there was a loud poof and then smoke. "kagebunshin" tsunade said to herself in realization. she slammed her fist into her table yelling "narutoooooo."

Meters away from the gates of konoha, naruto tightening his konoha headband heard his name being yelled. His clone had done a perfect job as he anticipated that tsunade would not let him go. He had slipped out in the early hours and sent a clone back before the seal was imposed on the village. Now, he knew where to begin his search. He brought his hands together, closed his eyes and just then, the kyuubi's chakra began to seep out of him. "sakura chan…. hinata…. I will definitely find you" he said to himself as he took off.

Naruto arrived at the border a couple of hours later. Due to help from the kyuubi's chakra, he was able to make it faster than a normal person would. From his location on top of a tree, he scanned the expanse of land consisting of mostly trees. With a nod to himself, he yelled "taju kagebunshin no jutsu." Concentrating, he was able to share the kyuubi's chakra with his thousands of clones. "Your senses of hearing and smell have been increased. Spread out and find them" naruto said ordering his clones.

Close to the base of a waterfall, a clone picked up a scent "I've found them" he said to himself before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"Found them" the real naruto said to himself while heading to their location. "_The sound of the water would disallow hearing of any cry for help and the and the scent of the water would give tracking type animals a hard time also" _he thought to himself as he arrived. With his senses still heightened, he followed the faint scent of his friends to a cave behind the waterfall. His heart began to beat faster because he wasn't sure what he was going to see. He went deeper into the cave. "Their scent is stronger. They must be in here" he said to himself.

Naruto felt a huge lump form in his throat at the sight before him. A bloody and battered sakura was kneeling close to a bloodier and more battered hinata obviously trying as much as possible to keep up the healing jutsu she had began ministering. Naruto's eyes quickly examined hinata's body and noticed that she had more damage than sakura with most of the injuries close to her eyes.

"Naruto!" sakura yelled while sobbing as she proceeded to give naruto a hug.

Naruto had been broken from his trance by sakura's yelling. He moved hurriedly past her completely ignoring her and proceeded to kneel by hinata's side. "H-hinata" he said softly.

Sakura had gotten used to being naruto's centre of attraction and was shocked at his response towards her. With his back facing her, she watched as he slowly stroked the hair of the sleeping hinata.

"S-sakura chan…" naruto stuttered "w-what h-happened?"

Sakura noticed the sadness and anger in his voice and tried to calm him down. "Naruto I am sor…."

"Sakura chan…. just tell me. What happened?" naruto yelled surprising sakura.

Sakura was surprised firstly because she thought she heard him sobbing and secondly, he just yelled at her. She sucked up and began explaining anyway. "We were ambushed by earth ninja's who explained that they needed to have hinata's byakugan for the upcoming war they were planning to wage against konoha. They captured us and…." Sakura paused as she turned her gaze to the floor "they t-tried to remove her eyes."

Naruto's eyes widened at her response. He wiped the tears that had formed in his eyes and looked towards hinata noticing the cuts below both her eyes with a long slash on the left eye. He felt his heart pound hard against his chest there was no way this was happening to her. "Why? Why haven't you brought her back?" naruto yelled while facing sakura again.

Sakura was dumbfounded naruto had never yelled at her before. She took her gaze to his eyes and noticed they were just forming the red like slits. "Why have you not brought her back?" naruto yelled again.

"N-naruto kun pl-please, d-don't yell at sakura san" hinata said wincing in pain causing her to stutter.

"Hinata! You're awake" naruto said as he proceeded to help her sit up.

"Sakura san h-helped me escape and….."

"Helped you escape? I thought they took the both of you?" naruto said looking confused.

Hinata looked up behind naruto to face sakura before closing her eyes and smiling "we both escaped and because I am still weak, we decided to stay here and avoid a battle because she wouldn't be able to protect me and also fight on her own."

Naruto sighed. "I am sorry hinata" he said with a hint of sadness in his voice before picking her up carefully in order to avoid causing her pain "we're going home." "If this has anything to do with the fact that we both killed sasuke, I will ne..never forgive you" naruto said as he stopped by sakura on his way out. Sakura looked down and thought for a second before following him out.

They had only gone a few kilometers from the cave in silence each lost in their own thoughts when "so that's where you are" echoed through the forest. Naruto took his defensive position with hinata in his arms and yelled back. "Who are you? come out!"

Two men donning the earth country's headband landed a few feet in front of naruto. He didn't need an answer of who they were as hinata's reaction on seeing them told him all he needed to know.

"Now young boy.." the first ninja started "Just hand the girl over to us and we'll let you leave here alive" he finished. Naruto watched as hinata clutched tighter to his shirt and began to feel anger building up within him. Hinata was practically scared of them and** nobody **absolutely** nobody **was allowed to scare her especially when he was there. He looked up at them with his now slit like eyes and spoke. "let us pass and none of you gets hurt."

There was silence after naruto's proclamation before strings of laughter echoed through the forest. "D-did y-you h-hear the brat?" the second ninja asked amidst laughter. "Enough!" the first ninja yelled. "Let's get him." They were however surprised when they turned to see clones covering for the hyuuga to their left and the real naruto and sakura in their fighting positions.

"Kagebunshin? So you are that kyuubi brat of konoha" the second ninja said while shivering and looking at his other. "Don't let that scare you, we can take him besides, remember the plan" the first ninja responded calming him a bit.

Naruto was getting frustrated. "What is the problem? Didn't you want to get rid of me to get to her? Saa, de te koi!" he yelled earning a smirk back from the ninja's. "We did warn you."

"Naruto kun!" hinata yelled as a previously unseen ninja came out from under him and landed a punch bringing out a sword before naruto who was flung into the air landed. Disoriented from the sudden attack, he didn't see a sword heading towards his chest. The sound of a sword piercing through skin echoed through the forest.

Naruto's eyes widened as blood began dripping on his stretched out hands. "H-hinata, why?" "Be-because i-I l-lo…." Hinata flinched in pain from the sword impaled in her. She had sensed the surprise attack and jumped in.

"Now we have no use for you brat" said the third ninja as he removed his sword and shoved her away. "H-hey you sh-shouldn't have done that" the second ninja stuttered "he looks really angry" he completed in fear.

The whole events had just played out in front of sakura who was shaking as she saw naruto begin to transform into his tail's state. She looked over at hinata and thought to herself. I have to get her out of here.

"Oi let's get out of here" the second ninja asked shivering as naruto began transforming into his fourth tailed state. Naruto looked at the unconscious hinata as his skin began to peel off. He remembered how yamato had told him he injured sakura and he knew if he completed the transformation hinata would be in terrible danger. But it was too late as the fourth tail had almost reached its completion. Sakura closed her eyes as she heard bones being broken, flesh being ripped and screams filling the air.

She opened her eyes slowly after the screams of pain stopped and was shocked to see naruto in his four tailed form staring at hinata. Remembering what happened to her during her encounter with the four tailed naruto she yelled for him to go away when she saw him slowly turn back to his normal self without any injuries. She thought about it and concluded that naruto was now able to control the powers of the kyuubi.

"**Boy, we can save her."**

"But how?" naruto asked while sobbing.

"**Well, you do have control of my chakra and you can heal her the same way you heal. Just find a way to pass chakra into her"** kyuubi answered.

Naruto nodded and leaned in locking his lips with hinata's. He stirred as he felt his chakra leave him but felt happiness overtake him when hinata's face scrunched up. He stopped and lifted his head up in time to see all her injuries close up.

Sakura had never felt so useless since she began training under tsunade. She only watched yet again as naruto not only fought but just accomplished in a term, a kind of medical jutsu. Naruto lifted hinata who was now sleeping carefully before facing sakura. "You can make it home on your own right?" sakura only nodded as she watched naruto with hinata in his arms take off at a speed she knew only he was capable of.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took so long. I think I was experiencing what you'd call a writer's block. Anyways, the last and final chapter is going to be updated soon if I am not too busy. The turnout of Alerts from Naruto: Time Travel was great. It got me to make out time to write the following chapter. Though it is taking longer than expected, I'll try to update it soon. Thanks to all of you that have taken time to review any of my stories you all are what keep fiction writers going and to all invisible readers, I was once one of you so, keep on reading dattebayo.

"Saa, de te koi" one of my favourite phrases from pain. It means "Now, hurry up and come!"

Please review and let me know what you think.

The turnout of Alerts from Naruto: Time Travel was great. It got me to make out time to write the following chapter. Though it is taking longer than expected, I'll try to update it soon. Thanks to all of you that have taken time to review any of my stories you all are what keep fiction writers going and to all invisible readers, I was once one of you. so you can keep on reading dattebayo.


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